The Korean War

But First...

Let's have a recap of where we are so far. What is the Cold War? Why are we involved?

What's going on in Europe? What is this Iron Curtain thing?

The Iron Curtain

Germany Divided

Germany was divided into zones by the big 3 powers and France after WWII creating an East and a West Germany

Berlin is also divided into East and West sections

What was the Berlin Airlift?

Strengthening Our Allies The Marshall Plan

gives economic aid non-Communist states in Europe

Why didn't the Communist states receive aid?

Containment

Policy of stopping the spread of communism through military and economic aid

Examples

Truman Doctrine

Marshall Plan?

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)?

Background on Korea Let's Look at Korea Under the control of

Japan at the time of their surrender in WWII

Like Germany, it would be divided into two separate nations

Both desired to be united again

Falling Dominoes

1949 – Communists win civil war in China In the U.S., President Truman's administration

is blamed for not being tough enough against Communism

January 1950 - North Korea Stalin tells North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung

that he is willing to help him unite the two Koreas

North Korea Invades the South

June 1950 More than 100,000 troops carrying Soviet-

made weapons and driving Soviet-made tanks Truman is determined to contain communism

Orders U.S. naval and air forces to aid the South Koreans

U.N. Security Council demands withdraw of South Korea

21 nations send aid or troops

Stop. Question Time.

Why might President Truman have been more willing to aid the South Koreans after 1949?

Why was Korea divided into two nations anyway?

What do you think? Should the U.S. have gotten involved in Korea?

A War in Four Phases

For this next section of notes, I'm going to do things a bit differently:

Draw four large boxes on a sheet of paper Each of these boxes represents a phase of

the Korean War Your task is to listen to the description of each

phase of the war, give each phase a title, and fill in the box with any relevant information

Phase 1

North Korean forces push into the South taking its Capital, Seoul

U.N. Forces join with South Korean

South Korean and U.N. Forces hold only a small portion of territory around Pusan

Phase 2

Communist forces stall

U.N Forces under American General MacArthur go around N.Korean forces and land at Inchon for a counter-attack

U.S. leaders decide to move into North Korea

Phase 3

Chinese forces cross into North Korea to aid N. Koreans

U.N. Forces are pushed back into the South

MacArthur favors a full scale war against China

Phase 4

U.N. Forces move North Korean and Chinese forces back slightly

War comes to a stalemate with little ground taken for 2 more years

Major Movements of the Korean War

The War's End?

Armistice will be signed in July,1953, after several failed attempts at peace

This really only stopped the open hostilities between the two nations and created a demilitarized zone between them

Questions

In 4-5 sentences, answer the following

Why did the U.S. become involved in the Korean War?

Now that you've seen how much was gained and lost in the war, do you think the U.S. should have gotten involved? Justify your response with examples.